


Tales of Peter Rabbit

by yingyangmaster



Category: POTTER Beatrix - Works, Peter Rabbit (2018)
Genre: Character Relationships, F/M, Familial Affection, backstories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 07:40:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14327772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yingyangmaster/pseuds/yingyangmaster
Summary: Collection of various tales and shorts surrounding the many escapades and general life of Peter Rabbit and his family after the events of the 2018 movie. From Benjamin's tearful recollection of his past to a daring rescue mission to save one of their own, our favorite quintet of rabbits continue finding themselves in bizare, emotional and dire situations while trying to live their lives in the only place they call home.





	Tales of Peter Rabbit

**Story 1: Benjamin Shares His Tale**

**A/n: Hi everyone! Just a quick introduction; while I normally write stories and shorts for The Lion King fandom, I recently watched the Peter Rabbit movie and I absolutely fell in love with it! So to dedicate the movie, I've created this collection of one-shots based on the 2018 movie, hopefully being able to emulate the movie's jokes and humour in them (I'm saying this because my general sense of humour is rubbish). I've noticed that most of the other stories of the Peter Rabbit fandom here on AO3 seem to focus on the humans of the movie (Thomas, Bea and others), my collection will generally focus on the animals instead. I'm also aware that there are a few adaptations of the Peter Rabbit classic, so I'll just assume that each adaptation is a completely different canon from one another and so will be sticking to the 2018 Peter Rabbit movie 'universe'. Hope you guys will enjoy the first one-shot of my collection! :)**

**PS: I know my writing and probably even story-telling is not as great as the other Peter Rabbit fics in the fandom, so please do leave constructive criticisms in the comments so I can better improve myself :) Also, I'm not a native English speaker (I'm from Malaysia), so please do correct me if I happened to make any blaring grammatical or spelling mistakes.**

 

Another peaceful day had come and passed in the quiet English countryside of Windermere, with gentle whispers of the evening breeze that blew about as the setting Sun was only several minutes away from completely disappearing into the horizon, soon to be replaced by the serene and cool atmosphere of nightfall. While the ambience amongst the baronial houses that make up most of the countryside was rather inanimate and quiet, one particular manor right in the heart of the small village was, in contrast, very much full of life. With loud, booming music rattling its walls and colourful neon lights escaping through the windows that seemed to flash about in the air in sync with the beat of the blaring music, this house certainly stood out from the other houses in the area- this was the McGreggor manor.

A quick look inside and one could see animals of all sorts- rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, mice and even a posh-looking pig wearing a light-blue blazer, dancing and partying about in the common area of the house to the beat of the music. 'Carrot-darts' were thrown at a portrait of old Joe McGregor, the previous and late owner of the manor who had made himself the common enemy of all the animals that were now partying on his precious property, a fox named Mr Tod who had stripped off his clothes and shrieking wildly as he scampered about on the floors in an apparent high on caffeine after he had accidentally consumed some raw coffee beans (having mistaking it for jelly beans), and plenty of whoops and cheers from all the partying animals.

"Alright, everyone! Tonight's the last night we have the house to ourselves before Thomas and Bea comes back tomorrow morning, so let's make this night the night of our lives!" A young male rabbit wearing a slight oversized blue jacket named Peter Rabbit proudly announced while he was waltzing about with another young white-furred female bunny in his arms. His declaration was met with roars of cheering and whooping as the other animals were more than happy to oblige him.

"You got it, big brother!" yelled out Cotton-Tail Rabbit, who was standing at the edge of the top landing of the staircase before making her 'leap of faith' towards the sofa placed right below, only to miss her target by inches and causing her to crash onto the floor with a grunt. "I'm okay! I think I've still got seventeen ribs left!" She declared as she picked herself off from the floor before scampering towards the top of the landing again, much to her brother's displeasure.

Eversince the feud between the rabbits and Thomas McGregor concluded with a truce, the young McGregor eventually warmed up to the critters he had previously loathed and even allowed them to freely enter the manor and its vast vegetable-filled garden, albeit after much persuasion from Bea, who had recently moved in with him while waiting for the renovations to her own house to complete. Of course, while Thomas wouldn't mind having the rabbits around his house, he would certainly have gone 'crackers' again if he saw the current state of his living room and the various animals partying in it.

But as Peter had mentioned, Bea and Thomas have been away on holiday together to the south of France for the week (while Thomas insisted his newfound girlfriend that the trip was nothing more than a holiday together as a couple, his main intention of travelling all the way to France was actually to catch hold of his office nemesis, Bannerman and rub it into his face of the fact that he now owns his own successful toy store). And so, with the two humans away, the animals had the time of their lives partying their hearts out for the last six nights in a row.

And while all the partying and happenings were going on inside the manor, a brown male and slightly overweight rabbit was seen casually picking out some carrots and radishes in the garden, humming a little tune to himself as he did so. Benjamin Bunny had decided that after joining the last six parties, he made up his mind that he'd rather spend some quiet time alone for tonight. While he naturally enjoyed the company of his family and fellow animals, he got tired and bored of having another night of dancing and partying. And anyways, with all the animals inside the manor, he now had the whole vegetable garden to himself, meaning he could snack away to his heart's content without a single soul around to chastise him for eating too much...

"Time to make tonight the night of my life," Benjamin said to himself, smacking his lips as he held a large piece of radish between his paws as he sat on the windowsill of the living room window. He gaped his mouth open to bite down into the radish, but it was mysteriously whisked away from his paws at the last millisecond, causing his mouth to rattle from the impact of biting into his own teeth.

... or so he thought.

"EUGHHH! My teeth..." He groaned, rubbing a paw on the underside of his jaw before turning towards his right to face the culprit who had stolen his radish.

"Well,  _th_ at's quite a lovely ra _th_ ish you got there, Benjamin _,"_  He heard the familiar playful voice of his cousin-sister, Flopsy, who spoke her words with a slight lisp.

The older rabbit sighed in disappointment as he watched his younger cousin-sister nibble into his snack while sitting beside him on the sill after seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "Yeah... that lovely radish was my dinner actually."

"Oh." Flopsy paused and looked at the half-eaten radish in her paws. "Well, you  _th_ aid you were going on a strict diet this week anyway _th_ ," she shrugged before happily eating the rest of the vegetable, much to Benjamin's annoyance, although he didn't show it of course. "Hey, how come you're not in _th_ ide enjoying the party?" Flopsy asked while giving him a friendly nudge to the shoulder.

"Well... no reason. I guess I just got tired of dancing... and partying... and staying up all night, I guess," he replied, picking himself up and turning around to peer into the living room through the window. The loud music and dancing were still in full-swing, but the contented smiles plastered on every animals face he saw made him break into a smile as well. Then he spotted the portrait of Peter's parents drawn by Bea, hanging above the mantlepiece and overlooking the entire living room. Benjamin stared at the portrait of his late aunt and uncle, the small smile on his face slowly shifted into a forlorn glance.

"If only my parents were here to see all this. I'm sure they'd be proud of how far we've come," he sighed to himself, his usually drooping ears drooped even lower as he said this.

Flopsy had been silently observing him when he peered into the window, but when he mentioned his last sentence, it immidiately sparked a burning question that she was always curious about since quite some time ago, but never dared to ask him for fear of unintentionally hurting his feelings... until that moment, that is.

"Benjamin, may I as _th_  you..." She began, slowly getting up and slipping her paw into his. "... what happen _th_  to your paren _th_ s?"

The older rabbit briefly turned to face her, and the crestfallen look on his face instantly made her regret asking such a sensitive question. "Sorry I asked," she said in a small voice, taking back her question. "I was ju _th_  curiou _th_. I _th_ 's just... well, you've been around when me and my  _s_ isters were born, yet we never knew or met your paren _th_ s. And Peter and our mum had never actually mentioned about them before..."

Benjamin managed to flash a reassuring smile before gently squeezing her paw. "It's okay, I don't mind. It's not often I get asked about personal questions," he replied before shifting his gaze back at the portrait of his aunt and uncle. He stared at it for a few more seconds before turning back to Flopsy. "You still want to know what happened to my parents?"

"Well... if you don't mind,  _th_ at is," she said with an enthusiastic smile, though not wanting to force her soft-spoken cousin-brother. "There's so much we  _th_ on't really know about you eventhough you've been with us for so long."

Benjamin smiled and nodded, appreciative that she had taken an interest in his personal backstory. "Alright, then follow me. There's something I want to show you that Peter and the others hasn't seen yet!" He said in a noticeable change of mood, as he hopped down from the windowsill and into the garden below, with Flopsy excitedly following suit.

 

The older brown-furred rabbit led the way across the vegetation and past the wooden garden gates, through the small clearing and eventually to the familiar compound of Bea's house next door. The was still a few minutes of the setting Sun left, so Benjamin had no problem navigating his way there. Flopsy was all the more curious as to why he had brought her there, as the minimalistic little house had been more or less empty since renovation works had begun on it. Construction and building equipment were scattered about the front and main parts of the house, but the glass-room verandah that was formerly Bea's 'work station' for her artworks had been repaired earlier (after the old tree that housed the Rabbit's burrow had toppled and crashed into it), so it currently serves as a temporary storage space for some of her furniture and completed artworks until the renovation had completed.

Benjamin walked up to one of the glass doors and peered inside. Sofas, cabinets and other furniture were arranged in one corner of the verandah, while her artworks were neatly compiled conveniently in front of that particular glass door.

"Um... what are we  _th_ upposed to be looking at, Benjamin?" Flopsy asked, cupping her eyes as she plastered herself against the glass, trying to peer inside as well.

"That one, right there. You see that painting?" he replied, pointing his paw towards a particular portrait standing upright a foot away from the door that was partly obscured by a small footstool beside it. The portrait was one of Bea's rabbit paintings, only instead of the usual paintings of Peter and his triplet little sisters, this one was a painting of an old rabbit couple; the older male was slightly plump with a rather short stature and he sported a light blue coat and yellow vest with a tobacco pipe in his mouth; while the lady rabbit standing next to him was slightly taller and wore a bright red dress accompanied with an old-fashioned white bonnet on her head.

Flopsy squinted her eyes, trying to take a better look at the portrait. "Wai _th_  a minute, I don't think I've seen that pain _th_ ing before," she noted.

"You didn't. Bea painted that one for me about a week ago before she set off for France and she kept it in here once she finished. So I supposed none of you would've seen it," Benjamin explained.

Flopsy stared harder at the picture. With what little daylight was left, she could just about make out the details of the rabbits in the portrait, and the more she focused on them, the more she realized that they both vaguely resembled a particular rabbit that she had known all her life.

"Benjamin, are those... are those your paren _th_ s?!" she gasped, turning towards him.

Benjamin gave her a single nod. "Yes, they are. Flopsy, meet my dad, Mr. Bouncer, and my mum, Ms. Jacqueline Rabbit."

The look of awe never left her face as she kept shifting her glance from the two rabbits in the painting to her cousin standing next to her. "Wow, Benjamin! You really do look alot like your fa _th_ er! _"_  she laughed after a while, earning an agreeing chuckle from him as well.

Flopsy then focused her attention to the picture of her Benjamin's mother. She cocked her head to the side when she noted something else about her aunt. "Benjamin, is it ju _th_  me, or... does your mum also look alot like... my mum?"

"Yes, Flopsy, she does indeed. That's because my mum, Ms Jacquelin Rabbit, and your mum, Ms Josephine Rabbit are sisters. That's actually how you and I are cousins," Benjamin explained to her with a small smile.

His younger cousin frowned with this new information. "Well, then why is it that after all these years you've lived with us, not once have you mentioned about who your paren _th_ s were?" She asked the prickly question rather sharply, despite not wanting to tread on dangerous waters earlier.

The brief smile on Benjamin's lips disappeared almost instantaneously before he let out a long sigh. Without answering her question, he turned his attention to the portrait of his parents.

"Flopsy, would you believe me if I said that at one point in my life, I was the most notorious joker and troublemaker in our entire family?" He finally spoke, his eyes never leaving the sight of the painting.

Flopsy was noticeably taken aback by what he said. "Wai _th_ , you were?" She asked, disbelievingly. She had countlessly seen him fret and looked like he would have a heart attack whenever Peter verbally brought up an idea of a ridiculous prank to play on the old McGreggor in the past, there was no way her soft-spoken, innocent-looking, by-the-books cousin who was always the voice of reason of their small family was ever a prankster or a troublemaker!

"Well, actually, I was. True story that one..." Benjamin replied, the smile slowly returning to his lips as he fondly recalled his past. "I didn't have any brothers or sisters back when I was a kit, and my Dad used to be very strict with me, so I spent most of the time being a loner back then. Then, one fine day, aunt Josephine gave birth to Peter, and that was when the troublemaking started... We ended up being closer than brothers, and it wasn't long before we realized that we had the same thirst for rebellion against our parents... and also a special talent for coming up with the most devious schemes to play on other animals on top of that..."

He started grinning to himself as he delved deeper into his days as a young kit. Flopsy quietly observed him as she slowly started to get a hint of how her big brother became... well.. how he became the infamous Peter Rabbit that he was today.

"I still remembered the most hilarious prank we've come up with; offering old Mr. Tommy Brock the Badger some 'magic mushrooms'. He thought we were just being nice, so he wolfed them down in three seconds flat, the 'magic' kicked in and he then started stripping himself naked and began shrieking and wailing at all the panicked female animals in the woods... Heh, everyone thought that the poor old badger had finally gone crackers while us two had best laughs of our lives! Old Mr. Brock couldn't understand why everyone started staring and running away from him the next day!"

Even Flopsy couldn't stop herself from grinning as she pictured the confused look of the slow-witted badger after what she thought was a funny escapade. "Wow, that  _th_ ertainly wa _th_  quite funny!" She giggled. "But you still haven't told me why you've never mentioned about your paren _th_ s... or how you managed to become a much sensible rabbit now, while Peter... err- well, you know..."

For the second time that evening, the beaming smile on Benjamin's face disappeared and a slumped look had instead replaced it. He took in a deep breath and released it through his mouth. "Well... being mischievous and rebellious with your cousin was fun back then... but it came with heavy consequences as well."

Flopsy easily sensed that there was a tragic twist to Benjamin's tale, that was when her smile disappeared from her face as well.

"A few months before you and your sisters were born, Peter and I decided to go swimming in the river that runs through the woods. It was the stupidest thing we've ever done in our lives," Benjamin continued.

"For some strange reason that only Heaven knows, we decided to go swimming during the middle of a thunderstorm. Don't know why we came up with the idea, but we somehow managed to sneak out of our burrows and made our way right into the river. I remembered clearly that the river current wasn't strong at first when we dived in, but the storm picked up minutes later, and we suddenly couldn't keep up with the water current. It was stupid, really..."

Flopsy silently observed her cousin, as a bitter frown formed on his face and he began silently cursing his younger self.

"So... wha _th_ happened after that?" she slowly asked, placing a comforting paw on his shoulder.

Benjamin briefly looked at her before placing his gaze back on the portrait, specifically, the painting of Mr. Bouncer. "Well... just when we thought we were going to drown, my father appeared out of nowhere and jumped straight into the river towards us. He managed to grab hold of Peter first and swam him to the riverbank. Then he went back to get me. I was further in the middle of the river, but he was still able to swim towards me, grab me by the ears and started swimming both of us back to the riverbank, a few meters away from Peter. He didn't stop until he pushed me up to the muddy ground. And then... well, just when he was about to pull himself out from the water, this.. strong river current crashed into him and pulled him back into the water..."

Benjamin's mouth started to quiver as images of his father shouting and crying for help as he crashed and bobbed helplessly about in the rushing waters like a buoy in the middle of an ocean. "... Me and Peter tried everything we could to help him; we reached out branches and long wooden sticks towards him while struggling just to keep up with his pace... but he was too far away in the middle of the river and the water was pulling him away far too fast for us to keep up... and then, right in front of my eyes... I saw my Dad disappear at the edge of the waterfall at the end of that river... and there was nothing at all I could do to save him. That was the last time I saw my father..."

The entire garden had suddenly become deathly quiet, as if the entire World had been listening to his tale. The Sun had long gone and the Moon was up, but there were no chirping of night-time insects nor the usual hootings of owls. Flopsy could feel her own eyes tear up as she watched Benjamin shut his eyes and hung his head. He drew in a long breath as he recovered moments later before continuing.

"I was traumatized after seeing my father die in front of my eyes. I just... couldn't accept that he was gone. And, frankly speaking... neither could my mum. She fell into constant depression in the days following Dad's death. I tried to talk and apologize for my stupid mistake that caused him his life... but she just wouldn't talk to me at all. And just when I thought my life couldn't any more miserable... my mum passed away two weeks later after that. She passed away of heartbreak. I wasn't able to seek her forgiveness for my mistake before she went... and that's something that's been haunting me ever since."

He paused to wipe away the unshed tears in his eyes.

"After losing my parents, something sparked within me that caused me to change my ways dramatically. Aunt Josephine and your father agreed to take me in and took care of me along with Peter. But I was no longer the trouble-maker I was. I started worrying that my mischief could cost another family member's life... so that's why I began acting sensibly from then on. I still couldn't move on from my parents' death, however, so I told Peter and your parents not to mention about them so I wouldn't miss them too much."

He turned towards Flopsy, who could only flash him a pitiful look after learning her cousin-brother's backstory. "You know, Flopsy, I just wished that Peter would follow after me and act maturely after that. But clearly that incident didn't change him a bit. When you, Mopsy and Cotton-Tail were born, I swore to myself that I would do everything to protect Peter from the consequences of his self-destructive ways. I did this because if anything happens to your parents, at least you three will still have a big brother you all can rely on to protect you."

Touched by his last sentence, Flopsy once again slipped her paw into his. "Is that the reason for your 'character flaw'?  Is that why you're always following him... to keep him away from trouble?"

Benjamin nodded. "Oh yes, especially since it's always that he's the one looking for trouble and not the other way around. I don't want to lose anyone else in my life. I just want to protect Peter, you... Mopsy, Cotton-Tail... our entire family."

A soft, heartfelt smile touched Flopsy's lips. "I'm sure your paren _th_ s will be proud of how you've turned out... and of all the heroic things you've done to keep our family safe," she said softly, giving Benjamin a brief, comforting hug to his chest.

Benjamin grinned and embraced her back before gazing upon the portrait of his parents one last time. "I'm sure they are, Flopsy. I'm sure they are."

They glanced back towards the McGreggor manor where they could hear the party was still in full swing and decided to head back and join the others. Benjamin took a few steps to follow after Flopsy, but not before looking back and flashing a smile to his 'parents' and carrying on his way. They may only be paintings, but Benjamin was convinced that his parents lived on through that simple painting of them, and of course, in his heart.

**The End**

**A/n: Hope you guys can leave a few comments on how I did :)**


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